Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 228,322 Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,382,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 228,322 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fastenal were worth $89,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,936 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,745,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,563,000 after acquiring an additional 957,091 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,600,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,435,000 after acquiring an additional 711,265 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Fastenal by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,651,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,445,000 after purchasing an additional 568,372 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,830,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,780,000 after buying an additional 423,112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $68.38 per share, for a total transaction of $229,073.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares in the company, valued at $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,082 shares of company stock valued at $2,584,060 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $68.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.07. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.85 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.23%.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company's fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.